What They’re Saying: Oz Is “A Malicious Scam Artist” Who “Unabashedly Used His Celebrity To Enrich Himself”

PennLive: “Oz used his popular TV show to publicize ‘potentially dangerous products and fringe viewpoints,’ frequently drawing criticism from colleagues in the medical community.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “To what extent did Mr. Oz know he was making spurious claims?”
MSNBC: “The closer one looks at his record, however, the more problematic it becomes.”

After bombshell reporting from The Washington Post revealed that Oz “provided a platform for potentially dangerous products and fringe viewpoints” on his TV show, a wave of news coverage is highlighting how the Republican is “a malicious scam artist” who “unabashedly used his celebrity to enrich himself.”

See for yourself:

PennLive: Oz publicized ‘potentially dangerous products’ on former TV show, news report

• Republican Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz used his popular TV show to publicize “potentially dangerous products and fringe viewpoints,” frequently drawing criticism from colleagues in the medical community, according to a report in The Washington Post.

• In a story published Monday, the Post reported — after reviewing clips of old shows — that Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, also touted questionable cancer prevention tactics, promoted green coffee beans as a weight-loss supplement, and hosted psychics and a supporter of iridology, which purports that the iris can show problems in other parts of the body.

• Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman’s campaign was quick to jump on the Post’s exposé, releasing a statement in which Fetterman called Oz a “phony and a fraud” and a “malicious scam artist” who got wealthy taking advantage of people.

• Besides weight-loss cures, the Post reported that Oz publicized “unproven” treatments for serious health issues, such as cancer and Alzheimer’s, including a diet of “endive, red onion and sea bass” to prevent ovarian cancer. That claim was subsequently refuted by the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance after it reviewed the same studies used by the Oz show.

• Ten doctors asked Columbia University to remove Oz from the medical faculty in 2015 for promoting questionable treatments, according to the Post.

• “He has manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain,” the doctors wrote to the college’s dean of health sciences and medicine.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Editorial Board: Mehmet Oz’s specious medical claims raise questions of financial integrity

• The celebrity doctor… has questions he needs to answer concerning the health claims he made to his millions of viewers. On his long-running television show, Mr. Oz enthusiastically promoted cures and remedies that either lacked scientific evidence, or had been proven ineffective.

• Voters deserve to know whether a candidate unabashedly used his celebrity to enrich himself. They should know how — and to what extent — Mr. Oz profited from the claims he made.

• Mr. Oz has said his enthusiasm for everything from green coffee bean extract for weight loss to the rare element selenium for cancer prevention — both debunked — came from a desire to give his viewers hope. But of what ultimate benefit are false promises and empty hopes to desperate people? And to what extent did Mr. Oz know he was making spurious claims? 

MSNBC: Why Fetterman is calling Oz ‘a malicious scam artist’ in their race

• Oz has had great financial success as a celebrity physician on television, which has not only made him a household name across much of the country, but which has also positioned him as a credible voice of authority.

• The closer one looks at his record, however, the more problematic it becomes.

• The New York Times reported late last year, for example, that Oz has a history of “dispensing dubious medical advice” and making “sweeping claims based on thin evidence.” The article referenced controversial comments the Republican has made about everything from weight-loss pills to apple juice to cellphones. Oz even promoted hydroxychloroquine on Fox News in 2020 as a possible Covid-19 treatment.

• A group of doctors even sought his firing from Columbia University’s medical faculty in 2015, arguing that he had “repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine.”

• The Washington Post had a related report this week: [During his television show’s run] from 2009 to 2021, Oz provided a platform for potentially dangerous products and fringe viewpoints, aimed at millions of viewers, according to medical experts, public health organizations and federal health guidance.

• Soon after, Fetterman, the Republican’s Democratic rival, said in a statement, “Dr. Oz is not just a phony and a fraud, he is a malicious scam artist. For two decades Dr. Oz has just been putting on a show for the cameras, saying whatever will benefit himself personally — regardless of who gets hurt, whether he believes it, or whether it’s even true.”

• The Senate hopeful has told voters his approaches to medicine and politics are similar. Given Oz’s record, that’s not an especially persuasive pitch.

Read More Here: The Washington Post: As TV doctor, Mehmet Oz provided platform for questionable products and views

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